The holidays are ending, and while most of the focus is on the students getting ready for the new school year, across Australia, 300,000+ teachers are also preparing to return to the classroom. It's for these often unsung heroes that we've gathered some 'Back to School' support tips.
Back to school isn't just about the students
Search 'back to school' on Google, and you'll get a Wikipedia result about a 1986 American comedy film of the same name. You'll also be inundated by big retailers exploiting the opportunity of a new school year and pushing their sales of student supplies. Change over to the image search option and it's clear that 'back to school' is completely kid-centric.
But if you flip the focus, it becomes obvious that the story of the more than 300,000 teachers across the nation, who are also returning to school, is massively under-represented if not missing altogether.
So, we decided to address this need and share some back-to-school tips designed specifically for the wonderful educators that impact so many of our lives.
We asked experienced educator, Kirralee Waterhouse, to share her top tips for teachers going back to school.
Q: What have you learned through your time as a teacher, which you find helpful in preparing to go 'back to school'?
Kirralee Waterhouse: Planning an overview of the school year is key - once I know my timetable I like to map out all the weeks of the year for each subject, where holidays and other school events (like athletics carnivals) fall so I've planned ahead for missed lessons. I also outline a brief (and flexible) overview of which topics I will be teaching each week (I do this per semester for junior and for the whole year for senior classes).
I don't usually do any specific lesson planning before the term starts except for the first week or two back. If I have any other creative ideas for my units of work while I'm doing my overview planning I write them down to come back to later.
It can feel overwhelming when starting to prepare for a new school year... it feels less overwhelming as you start ticking things off the to do list and generate momentum in your planning.
